San Antonio hotel industry plots long and tough road to recovery Visit San Antonio could see municipal funding cut nearly $15 million over next two years
Photo Courtesy: Credit: Gabe Hernandez | SABJ (SABJ)
SAN ANTONIO – Editor’s note: This story was published through a partnership between the San Antonio Business Journal and KSAT.
Visit San Antonio could see its municipal funding cut nearly $15 million over the next two years as public officials look to offset a more than $40 million drop in hotel occupancy tax revenue in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“What scares me the most is the unknown,” Visit San Antonio President and CEO Casandra Matej said.
Through May, San Antonio hotel room revenue was down 47% compared to the same period in 2019. This year has also seen a 34% decline in occupancy and an average room rate decrease of 15% as hotel operators tried desperately to attract business.
April was especially brutal as local hotel operators saw overall revenue decrease by 86% as occupancy declined by 68%. The numbers could have been worse, but data from hotels that temporarily closed wasn’t included, according to Matej.
She expects a return to pre-pandemic business will take years.
Read more on this story at the San Antonio Business Journal.
Copyright 2020 by KSAT - All rights reserved.
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